Jan 23, 2014 –
Reuters Canada – Andrea Hopkins
Canadian police fail to protect female Aboriginals: report
A US based human rights group – The Organization of American States – has issued a report, two years in the making, consequent to a request from the Native Women’s Association of Canada. The report suggests that police are responsible by inadequately preventing violence to the women. But the focus on the police seems to ignore what others think of as underlying causes largely denied by the federal conservatives. Is increasing policing of a disproportionate number of Canadians living in poverty, social and cultural collapse the answer to solving or stopping the increasing numbers of missing and murdered Aboriginal women? http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCAKBN0KL23V20150112
Canada.com – Douglas Quan, Postmedia News
Excessive overtime pay for corrections employees runs ‘risk of abuse,’ audit reveals
An audit of Corrections Canada has identified some concerns around the cost of overtime for employees and the amount of overtime in the operations vs the budgeted amounts. For the last fiscal year, the cost was $50 million while the budget called for $33 million, a trend found consistent over the last few years. CSC employs about 18,000 and the audit report does not identify the causes for the overtime. http://www.canada.com/news/national/Excessive+overtime+corrections+employees+runs+risk+abuse+audit/10752284/story.html
National Newswatch
Feds axe failed refugee return program
In an effort to save costs of deportation, the federal government has had a cash incentive for low risk failed refugee claimants to leave the country voluntarily. The assisted voluntary return and reintegration pilot program, or AVRR, was supposed to crack down on unfounded refugee claims tying up government resources. Internal reviews say that did not happen since the changes in the regulations, even though border services had brought attention to the problem before the change in regulations. More refugees, despite the sliding scale of payments based on the number of appeals, have in fact appealed at least twice in 2013-14. http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2015/01/22/paying-failed-refugee-claimants-to-leave-canada-didnt-work-as-planned-review/#.VMJ6hS5QRUZ
Toronto Star –
Former fugitive Douglas Gary Freeman back in Canada after years of legal turmoil
Douglas Gary Freeman was branded a terrorist based on allegations that he belonged to the US Black Panthers, based on secret documents that Freeman was never allowed to see or refute. Freeman married and raised four children in Canada before an aggravated assault charge from Chicago caught up to him. Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish ruled Freeman had been unfairly treated by the federal government over the designation as a terrorist. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/01/21/former-fugitive-douglas-gary-freeman-back-in-canada-after-years-of-legal-turmoil.html
Globe and Mail – Canadian Press
Second inmate death at Kamloops prison in two months under review
A man was found dead in the Kamloops Regional Correctional Facility on Monday, the second death in the jail in several months. No one is saying anything about the identity or the circumstances except to say the case is under investigation by the BC coroner. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/second-inmate-death-at-kamloops-prison-in-two-months-under-review/article22601216/
The Muse (Canadian University Press) – Conor McCann, Kerri Neil
Point/Counterpoint: The Dalhousie Dentistry affair
The authors take opposite positions on the question of the week: Should students at Dalhousie University’s dentistry school be expelled for their misogynistic remarks? http://themuse.ca/2015/01/22/pointcounterpoint-the-dalhousie-dentistry-affair/
Journal. US – Reynold Mason
House Passes Bill Defunding Obama`s Executive Immigration Action
The bill funds the Department of Homeland Security and blocks federal funding for the executive initiatives; the House of Representatives added five amendments, two of which directly funding the executive amnesty. The Bill continues to authorize the 34,000 beds in the immigration prisons and now goes to the Senate for approval. http://news.jornal.us/article-681145.HOUSE-PASES-BILL-DEFUNDING-OBAMAS-EXECUTIVE-IMMIGRATION-ACTION.html